Cześć, my family. I don't even know where to Begin. This has been a beautiful, miraculous week, and I don't think I will be able to properly express my feelings about it or share my experiences well (lol, my English is already so bad, it makes it harder.) Naprawdę, this week has been a testament to me that this what we are doing in Poland is God's work. And we work hard, we pray for miracles, we try to be obedient, but wow, things really aren't in our control. They are in God's hands, and that's much better. And the miracles that happen are just that: miracles. We couldn't achieved tchem, and sometimes we can't even see tchem coming. :)
The bulk of what happened this week happened on Wednesday. We started with personal study and then went to the chapel and had district council. Which was good. After lunch we went contacting on the Rynek (city center) for a half hour. We had a really good discussion with a man named Tomek. He basically said he's going through some hard things, but we just testified of the Book of Mormon and Christ's love for him. We gave him a Book of Mormon.
On our way back to the chapel, a street performer was playing his accordion around the corner of our chapel, so we went over to make friends with him. While we and others were grouping around him, the guy next to me turned and looked at my name badge. He asked me something in English, but I was expecting Polish so I got really confused. We switched to Polish, and basically, his name is Karol, and he wanted to know who we are. So we walked over to the chapel, gave him a tour, and then sat down in the chapel to teach a lesson. He thought it was really neat that we believe in having a close relationship with God, rather than a distant one, like many other religions.
And then, that evening, we went to make sandwiches for homeless people. We made tchem at a different place than usual, and basically it was just us, 3 of our friends, and 3 other people. One of the 3 other people, Leszek, kept asking us questions about our branch. And it turns out HE'S A MEMBER OF OUR CHURCH!!!!! AND HE WANTS TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!!! I don't think adding any more exclamation points can show how exciting this is. So we're going to start working with him. Another testament: this is God's work.
Also at sandwiches was Tomek! (see 3 paragraphs above). Sister Harmon talked to him, but he said he was actually convinced that we live what we teach, and he felt like the talk we had had earlier that day had given him energy.
Also at sandwiches I had a 20-minute conversation (by myself, credits dar języków) with a man, Henek, who had met with the missionaries for about a year a while back. He told me about a couple members in Gdańsk/here in Katowice.
On Sunday, we met with Karol again right after church. And you could just see him lighting up as we talked about the gospel. He said he feels peace when he reads the Book of Mormon and met with us, and he's found something he didn't even know he was looking for. I told him he can feel that peace always as a member of our church. And we were talking about the Book of Mormon and how we can know it's true, but basically when we asked him if he wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true, he was kind of like "Duh. It's true" So, I asked him if he wanted to get baptized, and he said YES!
People, he hasn't even known us missionaries for a week yet. The doctrines we've taught him in the two meetings we've had, he has accepted. He is literally a person prepared by God.
Man, this week, the work has HASTENED. A few weeks ago, we (Sister Harmon, I hadn't been here long enough) noticed a lot more negative things being said about us, about our church. But she talked about how that also meant that good things were happening here in Poland, too. And this week, I've definitely seen how that's true.
I hope y'all can get a little feeling for how much has happened this week, and how, when it is God's time, he will bring people to His missionaries or His missionaries to tchem.
I hope you are all preparing for General Conference! I don't just hope--I'm asking you mightily to prepare. Don't take for granted this opportunity we will have to listen to a living-day prophet. He is God's spokesman on Earth, and he receives revelation for us about the problems we are facing. He testifies of Jesus Christ. So take the time to sit down and listen--not just to his words, but the things the Holy Spirit impresses upon your heart. You will receive answers to your questions and will be spiritually strengthened. This opportunity can even change your life, if you let it.
Love,
Sister Eberting
